Bmw i5

IF YOU VIEW the BMW saloon range as a family of three children, the 5 Series could be at risk of suffering from ‘middle child syndrome’. While the flagship 7 Series gets to showcase all of its clever on-board technology, the compact and relatively uncomplicated 3 Series focuses on having fun. The 5 Series, then, has to work the hardest of the three in order to garner attention, by combining a mixture of its siblings’ characteristics.

In keeping with the outgoing version, the new-generation 5 Series uses a shortened version of the 7 Series’ underpinnings, balancing the luxurious feel of the larger car with a stronger dose of agility to keep the driver entertained.

As before, an array of mild hybrid petrol and diesel engines and plug-in hybrids will be offered, but first to arrive will be an all-new, fully electric version called the i5 – and that’s what we’re driving here in prototype form.

Technical and trim details are sparse at this stage, but the line-up kicks off with the single-motor, rear-wheel-drive eDrive40, which produces 335bhp. That should be more than enough grunt for most drivers, and it’s more powerful than most versions of the rival Mercedes-Benz EQE. Those who want even more performance can go for the dual-motor M60, which packs a whopping 590bhp and splits it between all four wheels.

The eDrive40 has the longest range in the i5 line-up, with an official figure of 361 miles (slightly behind the EQE 300’s 388 mile figure). Range for the faster i5 M60 dips to 320 miles.

All i5s come fitted with adaptive suspension, with air springs at the rear, while the sportier M60 gets the ‘Adaptive Suspension Professional Pack’. This adds a variable steering system to help the car feel more nimble in turns, as well as four-wheel steering that turns the rear wheels by up to 2.5 degrees to improve low-speed manoeuvrability.

In the M60, grip levels are high, body lean is minimal and the steering has a weighty feel and a precise response that means you can corner enthusiastically